Harry and the Epidemic
by General K-Star
Summary: A strange, fatal disease has spread among all the girls on the hill. Normally, Hermione would be the one researching a cure, but she's been affected even worse than the other girls have. It's now up to Harry and Ron to find a cure. R&R please!
1. The disease

DISCLAIMER: Once again, I do not own the rights to Harry Potter, his friends, or any places mentioned in the book (like Hogsmeade or Hogwarts). They belong to J.K. Rowling.  
  
If you like this story, please consider reading the other story from this fanfic series, Hermione and the Big Flood. I will be adding more stories to this series eventually.  
  
This story is rated PG for some scary moments.

* * *

Things had been relatively peaceful on Hogsmeade Hill since the big flood passed. Everyone was able to return to their homes immediately after the flood water receded. Harry and Ron had stayed with Hermione to help her around her house since she had not yet gotten used to using crutches (she had broken her leg when retrieving Neville's inhaler during the flood.)  
  
After a few months, Hermione's leg was no longer broken and she could walk around without any help. Harry and Ron said goodbye and returned to their homes at the bottom of the hill.  
  
"Thanks for helping me!" Hermione said as Harry and Ron left.  
  
"Well, that's what friends do," Harry replied, "They help each other." And with that, Harry and Ron continued down the hill to their homes.  
  
A few weeks later, disaster struck. Harry and Ron noticed that for some strange reason, all the girls on the hill had gotten sick. And it was only the girls who were sick. None of the boys were affected. It started out with all the girls coughing, then they all developed a rash, then a fever. Throughout the whole time this happened, none of the boys had caught the disease. The problem was, no one knew what the disease was. So, the boys suggested that all the girls stay in bed until they were better.  
  
Hermione, who had a lot of books at her home so she could research things when necessary, had gotten out of bed to research what the unknown disease was. While flipping through the pages of a really big book of magical diseases, she got a paper cut. It started bleeding, so she got out her wand and tried to mend the cut magically. It didn't work, so she went to get a Band-Aid from the medicine cabinet in her bathroom. The Band-Aid helped absorb the blood, but the bleeding never stopped. The phone rang (yes, they all had telephones on the hill). Hermione got up to answer it, but collapsed after walking halfway to the phone.  
  
The person on the other end was Harry. He and Ron were calling to see if she was okay. Hermione had a phone near her bed, so she should have answered immediately since she wasn't supposed to get out of bed. When she didn't answer, Harry assumed that she was probably asleep. He decided to try again in a few hours.  
  
Several hours had passed before Harry tried calling Hermione again. She still didn't answer. Concerned, Harry and Ron went up the hill to Hermione's house to see if she was ok. They rang the doorbell. No answer. They knocked on the door. No answer. They banged on the door while calling out to her. Still no answer. Harry was very worried, so he tried opening the door. It was locked, so he used Alohomora to open it. The door unlocked and swung open. Harry and Ron went inside. They searched the house, calling out to her. There was no response. They went to her bedroom, and what they saw scared them.  
  
Hermione was unconscious on the floor. There was a book open on her desk, which was across the room from her phone on her nightstand. It looked as though she had been reading at her desk when the phone rang, and then collapsed when she was walking over to the phone. Harry ran over to her and tried to wake her up. She wouldn't respond. He noticed that her finger was bleeding so much that the Band-Aid was unable to hold anymore. He told Ron to get another Band-Aid from the medicine cabinet. Ron got the Band-Aid and gave it to Harry. Harry removed the Band-Aid from Hermione's finger and put the new one on. It looked as though she had lost a lot of blood, thus explaining why she collapsed. Harry turned to Ron.  
  
"We need to get Hermione to the hospital immediately," he said to Ron. "If something isn't done right away, she could die."  
  
Ron noticed the book on the desk. He went over and looked at it. "It looks like Hermione was trying to research the disease," Ron said, "This is a medical book for ancient magical diseases that only affect our kind. Muggles don't get these kinds of illnesses." Ron looked further at the book. He came across a section for diseases that only affect a certain gender. He looked for one that only affected girls. There were quite a few, but Ron eventually found what he was looking for. "Harry," he said, "I think I found what the girls have. Look at this," Ron showed the book to Harry, "the symptoms are very similar to what the girls have, but only Hermione has the final symptom."  
  
Harry read the section that Ron had pointed out. "It says the first symptom is uncontrollable coughing," he read out loud, "that's what the girls started with! Then it says the next symptom is a rash, they had that too, next is a fever, they all have that now, and then it says 'By this point, the victim's blood will have thinned. If they receive a cut or other open wound, the bleeding will not stop and the victim will die if professional medical treatment is not administered in the next 24 hours.'" Harry turned to Ron. "This means," he said, sounding very concerned, "that if we don't get Hermione to a professional wizard doctor, she's going to die."  
  
TO BE CONTINUED!

* * *

Yeah, I know, the suspense is killing you, but I promise I will make part two very soon! I just thought a good cliffhanger would guarantee some good reviews. Besides, I want to start working on the next story in this series, which I promise will be absolutely freakin' hilarious! 


	2. The cure

DISCLAIMER: Why would my disclaimer be any different from the one I used in the last chapter?  
  
PART 2  
  
"We could take her to St. Mungo's," Ron said, "That's where they took my dad when he was bitten by that snake, remember? But, I don't know how to get there from here."  
  
"Neither do I," Harry said, "We need to find out soon. Do you know if they have an emergency number to call?"  
  
"No, it's rare for wizards to use telephones, we always use owls." Ron replied.  
  
"An owl would be too slow," Harry said, "we need a faster way to get there. We could try apparating, but I don't know how to apparate AND take someone along with me at the same time."  
  
"We could send someone over there and they could tell someone that we need help," Ron suggested.  
  
At that moment, Neville rang the doorbell. Ron got up and answered.  
  
"Hi Ron," Neville said, "I was just coming over here to see if Hermione was ok."  
  
"She isn't," Ron said, "she's collapsed on the floor and we can't wake her up. We saw a book that described the problem and it says that if we don't get her to a doctor in the next 24 hours she'll die."  
  
"What?" Neville gasped, "No! We can't let that happen! I'll do whatever I can to help her. She saved my life once, and the best way I can repay her for that is to help save her life."  
  
Ron remembered his fifth year, when he saw Neville at St. Mungo's with his parents. "Neville," Ron said, "Do you know how to get to St. Mungo's?"  
  
"Yes, my parents are there, remember?" Neville said.  
  
"Can you get there quickly?" Ron asked.  
  
"Yes," Neville replied.  
  
"How quickly?" Ron asked.  
  
"I can apparate there," Neville said, "I'm good at apparating."  
  
"Good!" Ron said, "Could you apparate there and tell them about Hermione so we can get someone over here?"  
  
"Yes," Neville said. And with that, he apparated.  
  
Ron went back inside to talk to Harry. "Neville was at the door. I told him about Hermione and he said he could apparate to the hospital and tell them."  
  
"Good," Harry said. After a few minutes, Neville reappeared along with two professional mediwizards. They came inside and approached Harry, who was sitting on the floor next to where Hermione had collapsed.  
  
"Do you know what caused this to happen?" one of the mediwizards asked.  
  
"Yes," Harry replied. He then described the disease exactly how the book had described it.  
  
"Is there anyone else on this hill with the same problem?" the other mediwizard asked.  
  
"All the girls on the hill have this problem, but only Hermione had gotten a cut." Harry answered.  
  
"Very well then, we'll take her up to the hospital. You should come along too, we have a potion that can cure everyone on the hill," the first mediwizard said. He pulled out his wand and conjured up a stretcher. Both mediwizards picked up Hermione and put her on the stretcher. They took her outside, and raised their wands into the air. Red and blue sparks shot into the air, and an ambulance suddenly appeared a few seconds later. The mediwizard inside the ambulance came out and asked the other two what had happened. They explained the problem, and the three of them put the stretcher inside the ambulance. The mediwizard who had been driving the ambulance told Harry, Ron, and Neville to get in the back with Hermione. They got in, and the first two mediwizards joined them in the back. The driver got back inside, and with a loud bang, the ambulance disappeared from in front of Hermione's house and instantly reappeared at the hospital. Everyone got out, and the three mediwizards pulled out the stretcher with Hermione still unconscious. They pushed the stretcher over to the entrance to the emergency room and the doors magically opened to let them in. Harry, Ron, and Neville followed them inside.  
  
"Well, now we know how to call an ambulance from here when there's an emergency," Ron said, remembering the two mediwizards shooting red and blue sparks into the air to signal the ambulance.  
  
"That's always good to know," Harry said.  
  
"I could have told you that," Neville said, "I've spent loads of time here because of my parents, so I know everything about this place."  
  
"Well why didn't you tell us?" Harry and Ron said in unison.  
  
"You never asked!" Neville replied. Harry and Ron groaned.  
  
They followed the mediwizards and Hermione through the halls of the emergency room. The mediwizards took Hermione to a ward with a sign on the door that said "Critical patients only. No visitors allowed." One of the mediwizards turned to Harry, Ron, and Neville and told them that they weren't allowed in.  
  
"But we're her friends!" Harry said.  
  
"I know, but those are the rules," the mediwizard replied, "I'm sorry it has to be this way. When she's better, we'll move her out of this ward and into a regular ward and you can see her then. Besides, you guys need to take that potion back to the hill so the other girls can get better, too."  
  
"Well if that's all that needs to be done in order to cure them, then it should be that simple for you to cure Hermione," Ron said.  
  
"No it won't be," the mediwizard replied. "Her condition is far worse than the other girls. Treating her will be a lot more complicated."  
  
"You will be able to, right?" Neville asked.  
  
"Yes we will," the mediwizard said. "She should be in stable condition when you get back. She might still be unconscious for awhile, but you'll be able to visit her when we're done with the procedure."  
  
"Good," Harry said. The mediwizard asked them to follow him. He led them to a room with many different medical potions and found the one they needed.  
  
"All you have to do is give the girls each one teaspoon of this," he explained, "It doesn't taste very good, so they may complain, but the symptoms will clear up immediately and they will instantly be cured."  
  
"That's great," Harry said, "But will they still have a chance of catching it again?"  
  
"No," the mediwizard replied, "This disease is similar to chickenpox. If they catch it once, they will never catch it again."  
  
"That's even better!" Neville exclaimed, "I would hate for this to happen again!"  
  
The three of them left the hospital and apparated back to the hill. When they got there, they gave a teaspoon of the potion to each of the girls. The girls all gagged, but their symptoms cleared up immediately. Thankful, they all gave Harry, Ron, and Neville a big hug.  
  
When they were done, Harry, Ron, and Neville apparated back to the hospital to see if Hermione was okay. The doctor told them that it was okay to visit, but she needed rest. After promising that they wouldn't wake her up, the doctor allowed them to go in and see her.  
  
Hermione was asleep on a bed in the ward. There were other beds there too, some with other patients sleeping or chatting with visitors, some were empty. Harry, Ron, and Neville sat down next to Hermione's bed and waited for her to wake up. Ron had brought a deck of cards with him, and the three of them played "go fish" while they waited for Hermione to wake up. They turned their chars around (so the noise they made while playing would be directed away from Hermione) and tried to keep their voices down, but they were having such a good time that they forgot to keep quiet. When they started getting too loud, Harry turned to the other two and said, "Guys! Be quiet or we're going to wake her up!"  
  
Another voice behind them said, "I'm already awake." Harry, Ron, and Neville turned around. Hermione was sitting up in bed and looked happy to see them.  
  
"Hermione!" Harry exclaimed, "We're sorry if we woke you up, we tried to stay as quiet as we could. How long have you been awake?"  
  
"I just now got up, but I've been awake for a few minutes now," Hermione answered, "I just didn't want to open my eyes yet. But when you said something about waking me up, I figured I should probably get up and tell you that I'm already awake."  
  
"Are you ok?" Neville asked.  
  
"I guess so," she replied, "I just now woke up, so no one's told me anything yet."  
  
Just then, the doctor entered the ward and saw Hermione talking with her friends. He approached Harry, Ron, and Neville. "I thought I told you not to wake her up! She needs rest!" he scolded.  
  
"It's ok, sir," Hermione said, "I woke up on my own. They were quiet the whole time."  
  
"I'm glad to see that you've regained consciousness, Miss Granger," the doctor said, "How are you feeling?"  
  
"I'm okay," she said.  
  
"Excellent! You should be able to go home right away! We just need to check your blood pressure and temperature and if everything's ok, you can go home," the doctor said. He got the necessary equipment, checked Hermione's blood pressure and temperature, confirmed that everything was just fine, and sent her home with her friends.  
  
When they got back to the hill, they were greeted by everyone who lived there. Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, and Hagrid even came. Everyone was happy to see that Hermione was ok, and they thanked Harry, Ron, and Neville for helping all the girls get well again. After much conversation with one another, everyone returned to their homes. Everything was peaceful on the hill once again.  
  
THE END! 


End file.
